Terrifying Karthik

[Lidor51]

I'm not looking after get into Karthik's mind, but here is a
pretty simple thing.. 90% low bar robots-> Limbo robots are the standard -> you won't get any advantage on others being short, because almost every team chose to build a Limbo bot-> being a good tall robot will be more rare and unique than being a tall robot-> the unexpected is the big advantage that good high robots can acheive (can't be blocked, can block, easier scale, easier to cross C category).

[rsisk]

Karthik is from Canada
Candada is cold
QED: Karthik has brain freeze.

I'll PM my address to you for that Mt. Dew

[Andrew Schreiber]

There's a disjoint between low bar capable robots, robots capable of crossing defenses reliably, and robots capable of manipulating balls reliably. As many of us are learning, any one of these is hard.

Karthik is scared teams are going to overestimate how much they don't suck.


And I don't drink Mt Dew, but I need judges for Boston District, I'll take payment in points of contact at iRobot.

[pwnageNick]

Obviously he's terrified that there's 10% out there who don't understand how crucial it is that every team be able to go under the low bar this year. You're all just looking at this the wrong way.

[cadandcookies]

Originally Posted by Andrew Schreiber

Karthik is scared teams are going to overestimate how much they don't suck.

While I'd hesitate to say this is definitely why Karthik in particular was terrified of the results of that poll, I can definitely say this is why I was terrified of them.

On average, robotics teams really aren't particularly good at building robots* (or, perhaps more accurately, robots that can compete effectively). As someone who loves to see teams succeed both on and off the field, I looked at the results of that (and the other, similar polls about functionality) and wondered how many of the teams that said they were trying to score in the high goal, climb the mountain, and go under the low goal would even be capable of one of those things. That 90% of teams said they want to go under the low bar, and that in other polls, 64% of respondents said they would do both low bar and hang, about 80% of respondents claimed they were doing 4/5 defenses, and 70% of respondents have claimed that they are planning on doing either high goal or both high and low goal indicates that there are a whole bunch of teams that are likely biting off FAR more than they can effectively chew. Obviously I hope I'm wrong, but this indicates to me that there are going to be a lot of mediocre or ineffective robots this year (though one could argue that's the case every year, it's just more of a shame when it's such a fantastic game that supports a ton of valid niches for robots).

So, basically it boils down to that shooting, crossing defenses, and climbing are already tough, and the indication that 90% of teams are compounding the difficulty of whatever else they're trying to do with trying to do is, well, terrifying.

*I know this is an extremely strong and possibly offensive statement, but it's true pretty much across the board-- GOFIRST (my college robotics org/team) just competed in two robotics competitions on one weekend where more than half of the participants were either completely ineffective or somewhere between bad and mediocre at the tasks, including us, and we're a group of people that each have 5+ years of robotics experience. Robots are just hard, however you cut it.

[Procolsaurus]

Karthik was thinking about the wiring.

[Anteprefix]

He could be worried that if an entire alliance is relying on the low bar for fast cycling, a single tortuga blocking the low bar would ruin the alliance's game plan.

[MaGiC_PiKaChU]

Karthik is Achondroplasiaphobe. He's afraid of midgets. 90% of the robots going under the low bar will drive him insane at events

[/thread]

[Caleb Sykes]

I don't know about Karthik, but I'm afraid that teams will be making 15.5" tall robots that can't really get under at all unless they go agonizingly slowly.

We are not designing to just get under the low bar, we are designing to get under the low bar at near to our maximum speed.

[Shrub]

Originally Posted by Caleb Sykes

I don't know about Karthik, but I'm afraid that teams will be making 15.5" tall robots that can't really get under at all unless they go agonizingly slowly.

We are not designing to just get under the low bar, we are designing to get under the low bar at near to our maximum speed.

Maximum speed is fast. Sonic is fast. Sonic is also blue. What else is blue? Water.

Water game fears confirmed.

[nuggetsyl]

I agree with Karthik the poll results are scary. Joe J and myself answered a question on camera asked by Andy Baker. I truly thought the low bar was going to be under utilized and my advise was to not under estimated needing a robot for the low bar. IMO this would be a perfect task for teams trying to master just a one task. I have seen several designs so far that have teams shooting and lifting and I just do not see these teams being competitive. Just go back to 2012 and watch how many teams could not make a shot in the hoop and there was a safe zone to shoot from and they were shooting from a higher point making it hard to block. Defense is being over looked in shooting which is going to leave a lot of points on the table. Time will tell who is right and who is not.

[SM987]

He meant to say "The results of this pole are terrifying."

[PayneTrain]

Originally Posted by SM987

He meant to say "The results of this pole are terrifying."

#teamtether

[BethMo]

Originally Posted by SM987

He meant to say "The results of this pole are terrifying."

WINNER!

(At least, it made me laugh the hardest.)

[Peyton Yeung]

Originally Posted by SM987

He meant to say "The results of this pole are terrifying."

Your robot just gave birth...congratulations.